Written By: Emma Wakefield

The 25th annual Junior U.S. Open was held at Skyview Lake in Harmony, North Carolina. There were eight competitors who represented the midwest in all three events. Ally Custer and Samantha Hoops competed in the U21 women’s division. Giovanni Bloyer, Jacob Bucher, Bode Bulfer, and George Bulfer in U17 boys. And Ries Bloyer and Joy Bucher in U17 girls.

The competition consisted of one prelim round with 12 qualified skiers per event. The top five skiers from prelims then moved onto the final round.

Ally and Samantha qualified for the final rounds in all three events. Samantha finished fourth in slalom with a score of .5@ 32 off, and Ally behind her in fifth with 3@ 22 off.

Ally secured the silver medal in trick with 3,230 in round one and 1,350 in round two. Samantha finished fourth with 2,010 in the first round and 2,270 in the second.

Both women demonstrated their jumping expertise by securing the top two places on the podium– Ally with 117 feet and Samantha with 113 feet.

Their event scores placed Samantha third with 2,242.9 overall points, and Ally in fourth with 2,145.6 points.

The boy’s division equally delivered an impressive performance. Slalom featured Giovanni in fourth with 1.5@ 35 off, and Bode right behind in fifth with 1@ 35 off. George didn’t quite make the final round, but came in sixth behind his brother with 3@ 32 off, and Jacob finished eighth with 5@ 28 off.

Giovanni continued his momentum and scored 5,490 to finish second place in trick. Behind him yet again was Bode with 4,630. Both George and Jacob had tough first rounds and didn’t quite make the finals cut.

To conclude the division, George finished third in jump with an outstanding 132 feet in the first round and 127 feet in the second. Bode was in fourth with 130 feet, and Giovanni seventh with 118 feet.

Giovanni secured the gold medal in the overall category with 2,488.40 points. Bode was just 50 points shy and came in second. George finished sixth with 1,660.40 points.

Joy kicked off the girl’s competition with 4@ 15 off, which placed her sixth in slalom.
Ries nailed her tricks in the first round to qualify for the finals. She placed fifth with 2,660 points, and Joy followed in sixth with 1,480.

Joy secured the bronze medal in jump with a remarkable 73 feet. This advanced her placement to fourth overall. To conclude, Ries jumped 55 feet in the first round and placed eighth.

The 25th Junior U.S. Open was a spectacular way to kick off the season for these young and talented Midwest skiers. There’s no doubt they’re capable of achieving greater scores as the season progresses.